


Wizard's Chess

by minerva__mcgee



Series: Minerva McGonagall - One-Shots [9]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Marauders, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), Philosopher's Stone, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Wizard Chess, short fic, sorcerer's stone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-29
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:20:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 714
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24442741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/minerva__mcgee/pseuds/minerva__mcgee
Summary: The Marauders pull a prank. Minerva McGonagall gets an idea.
Relationships: Marauders & Minerva McGonagall
Series: Minerva McGonagall - One-Shots [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1758022
Kudos: 25





	Wizard's Chess

“We’ve got to step up our game, you guys!” said Sirius to a rather tired Remus, James, and Peter, who were all huddled around textbooks. “It’s a Friday night and we’re sitting here studying, instead of planning for what could be one of our final pranks!”

The boys had been studying so hard for their NEWTs that they had forgotten about pranking. James slipped his glasses from the top of his head over his eyes and looked at Sirius. “Well, what did you have in mind?”

Sirius stuttered. He hadn’t expected them to go along with it, but now all three boys were staring at him expectantly. “Oh. Well ...” he looked around the room before his eyes landed on Peter’s chess set. A grin grew on his face. “Oh. I know _exactly_ what we have to do. It won’t be easy, but it’ll be worth it.”

Professor McGonagall was glad for the sunshine today, as they hadn’t had a proper spring Saturday afternoon yet. She was on her way to lunch when she saw a few first year Ravenclaws staring out of a window in the corridor, laughing at something. 

“What is going on?” she said crisply, and the students simply pointed out the window before running off. Her jaw dropped at the sight on the grounds, and she quickly snapped it shut before running off to get outside.

“Bishop to E2!” Remus called boldly, sitting on the back of a Knight’s pieces, playing for black. Sirius was standing with the king on the white’s side. The black bishop moved diagonally and captured a pawn, which exploded into many pieces, before magically appearing at the side of the large chess board. Remus looked over Sirius’ shoulder and saw Professor McGonagall storming up to them angrily. 

“Here comes trouble,” he said to Sirius, who turned around and saw her fuming. He sighed, but kept his focus on the board in front of him. “Pawn to G7!”

Some of the students that had gathered to watch ran off as Professor McGonagall approached, but she did not yell - she simply stood off to the side and stared as they continued their game. 

She had to admit, this was an impressive bout of Transfiguration. Minerva McGonagall let herself feel impressed, but refused to show it.

The game last another thirty minutes or so, with Remus calling checkmate on Sirius, who gracefully jumped off of the king’s square just in time to not be hurt by its destruction. 

“Ah, Moony! You’ve defeated me!” he said dramatically, laying on a square a few feet away. “My pride! My honour - !”

“Lupin, Black, Potter, Pettigrew!” McGonagall yelled, making everyone go still. “My office. Now.”

They bowed their heads in defeat and followed her up her office. She never once looked back at them on their walk, which felt like hours to the boys.

“Sit,” she pointed at the chairs in front of her desk before sitting across from them, her hands folded in front of her face as she took a deep breath.

“Reckless,” she spat, fixing them with a hard stare. “Irresponsible. Stupid. You could’ve been hurt!”

Remus and Peter had the nerve to look ashamed, but Sirius and James were smiling. “We just needed a break from studying, Professor,” said James.

“You think that wasn’t studying?” she said, making four pairs of eyes snap up at her in confusion. Sirius would later tell the story that he could’ve sworn that she had smiled. “That was an incredible feat of Transfiguration.”

Their jaws dropped at the compliment. It was her turn to smirk as she reached over and poured five cups of tea. “Tell me how you did it.”

“We must protect the stone,” said Albus Dumbledore in an emergency staff meeting years later. “I want everyone to come up with a difficult puzzle as a different layer of protection. We’ve got Fluffy, but that is most certainly not enough.”

When she returned to her office, alone, she was racking her brain trying to figure out what she would contribute to this project. Her eyes caught her chessboard, and she smiled a sad smile as she thought about the four boys - two dead, one imprisoned, and the last, alone. Minerva left her office to go tell Albus what she had planned.


End file.
